Exploratory Cancer-Related Diagnostic Excellence Measures

https://qualityindicators.ahrq.gov/tools/diagnostic_excellence#Cancer-Tab The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has released draft technical specifications for exploratory cancer-related diagnostic excellence measures. These draft measures were developed by teams sponsored by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation's Diagnostic Excellence Initiative at Brigham and Women's Hospital, University of Pennsylvania Health System, and Baylor College of Medicine, Houston. The measures are intended to support population-level diagnostic excellence surveillance and quality improvement by identifying patterns that may represent potential missed opportunities in the diagnostic process. An overview of these exploratory cancer-related diagnostic excellence measures is available in the Exploratory Cancer-Related Diagnostic Excellence Measures Overview (PDF File, 296 KB). https://qualityindicators.ahrq.gov/Downloads/Resources/Toolkits/AHRQ_DX_DraftSpecs_Announcement.pdf Release of Draft Technical Specifications for BETA Exploratory Cancer-Related Diagnostic Excellence Measures The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is pleased to announce the release of draft technical specifications for exploratory cancer-related diagnostic excellence measures under development as part of the AHRQ Quality Indicators (QI) Program. These exploratory measures are intended to support population-level surveillance and quality improvement by identifying patterns that may represent potential missed opportunities in the diagnostic process. Highlights of this draft release include: Measures designed to support diagnostic excellence and quality improvement at the health-system (or other healthcare-delivery organization) level to support internal quality improvement and diagnostic safety efforts Focus on identifying patterns related to delayed followup, late-stage cancer diagnosis, and emergency presentations Three key measure concepts: Timely followup after cancer screening (including abnormal and negative results) Late-stage cancer diagnosis New cancer diagnosis following an acute presentation Developed and refined through stakeholder input, public feedback, and testing across claims, EHR, and registry data Intended for learning and improvement purposes only, not for reimbursement, public reporting, or accountability The full draft technical specifications and supporting materials are available on the AHRQ Quality Indicators website. AHRQ anticipates revising these specifications based on additional testing and stakeholder feedback and plans to release additional diagnostic excellence measures in the future. AHRQ welcomes feedback and questions at QIsupport@ahrq.hhs.gov.